Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) said its associate general counsel for Corporate and Commercial Matters and corporate secretary, Peter Sherry Jr., has elected to retire effective April 1, after more than 31 years of service with the automaker.
The company's board of directors has elected Bradley Gayton to succeed Sherry as corporate secretary effective April 1. Gayton, currently serving as assistant general counsel and assistant corporate secretary, will continue in his role as assistant general counsel.
In his new role, Gayton will assume direct responsibility as secretary to the board of directors and for related legal matters such as SEC filings and compliance, proxy statements and annual meeting matters and support of Ford's Treasury operations.
Gayton retains responsibility for legal matters for Canada, Mexico and South America. He will report to David Leitch, Ford group vice president and general counsel.
Sherry joined the Company in 1980 as a staff attorney and held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his career at Ford.
He was the lead attorney in the sale of Ford's heavy truck operations to Freightliner in 1997, the acquisition of Volvo Cars from AB Volvo in 1999 and the acquisition of Land Rover from BMW in 2000.
Sherry also spent four years working in Ford of Europe. Sherry was appointed secretary of the company on April 1, 2003, and in that role participated in numerous major corporate initiatives.
Since joining Ford as a staff attorney in 1991, Gayton has held a variety of leadership positions including serving as Ford's director of Global Trade, Taxation and Customs, Assistant Tax Officer and director of Legal Affairs – Canada, Mexico and South America.
F is trading up 0.96% at $12.63 on Monday. The stock has been trading between $9.05 and $16.18 for the past 52 weeks.